Special Town Board Meeting — Minutes

1 Special Town Board Meeting Thursday, September 17, 2026, 2:00 PM. Held In-Person Only Linn Town Conference Room W3728 Franklin Walsh St. Zenda, WI. 53195 Minutes Chairman Weiss called the meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. Present at roll call were Supervisors Zimmerman, Livingston (excused), Palmer (excused), Leith, Chairman Weiss also present were Clerk Morris and Administrator/Treasurer David Zimmerman. Reconsideration and possible repeal of Municipal Court Ordinance 2026-002 Leith/M. Zimmerman motioned that they rescind the Municipal Court Ordinance 2026- 002. Motion Carried. Chairman Weiss stated that at Monday’s Regular Town Board meeting the agenda read “Resolution” instead of “Ordinance.” Discussion and possible action regarding Municipal Court Ordinance 2026-006 Leith/M. Zimmerman motioned to approve the first reading of Municipal Court Ordinance 2026-006. Motion Carried. Leith/M. Zimmerman motioned to waive the second reading of Municipal Court Ordinance 2026-006. Motion Carried. Leith/M. Zimmerman motioned to adopt the Municipal Court Ordinance as submitted 2026-006. Motion Carried. 2027 Town Budget – Discussion Only David said that he will have a comprehensive budget completed tomorrow with everything he has been given this far. They discussed meeting times for next week. Highway: Highway Superintendent Matt Wittum presented. Changed Highway overtime pay to $15 from $19. He decreased signage. Snow and ice went up equal to what a ton of salt will cost us if we have to take it all. Tree work, dump fees, safety, all stayed the same. Bridge inspections went down a couple hundred since we have all new bridges. Maintenance, equipment and repairs went up $5000, because that seems to be what is usually spent. Supplies and Maintenance for the garage went up. He said he hasn’t changed that GL for nine years but now it is more expensive. Capital expenses – Resurfacing is a huge increase, which includes Zenda Rd. It is a funded project, and he has heard what the Town’s portion is. Discussed Stateline and Woodstone projects as well as Maple Hills to pulverize and overlay. These projects are 4.68 miles. We have 68 total miles of Town roads. There are also a couple of little subdivisions that 2 need work as well as some work on Linton needs to be done. He was unable to get funding for Linton Rd. or Brink. He will keep trying. Chairman Weiss asked Matt to recheck with those who gave bids to see if their bids hold even with the high price of oil. Culverts and Drainage- they didn’t finish South Lake Shore Dr by Luis’s. Matt’s main priority is to fix the storm sewer by the Hillside Launch. He is talking with the DNR. Chapin is an important project to work on. Basswood culvert and Snake Rd are miscellaneous projects that they can’t afford to finish this year. He decreased Engineering $25,000. Crack-fill and Sealing- he went up $10,000, and for Patchwork he went up $15,000 due to the high oil prices. Updated Capital Five-Year Plan – He has the full price of the new truck they are having built in the five-year plan. It does not include the truck that they will sell. Matt would like to buy a second blower like the one they have. This is an item he is bringing back to the budget conversation. Now the price of the blower has gone up $300. He included an updated chassis cost. He also added a $25,000 increase because the federal government is charging diesel vehicles more. The cost of building a truck is up in the air. He put it in for 2029. Once this is complete, Matt said he should not need a truck for a decade. The remaining expense for the truck is $116,000. Chairman Weiss wants Matt to look for what they can sell a truck for. Tree work remains the same on the budget. He could use an extra $16,000 though. Clerk Office Supplies and Elections - Clerk Alyson Morris discussed her Election budget. She left Document Shredding at $5000. Office Expense increased to $21,000. She doesn’t know what the increase will be for QuickBooks yet. As for Postage, all departments use the Pitney Bowes postage meter in the Clerk’s Office. The expense is all covered in the Clerk’s budget. The Pitney Bowes postage machine lease agreement will be up in March, even though the contract agreement goes until November. The lease for one quester is $171.99. They want to increase it to $236.37 a quarter. FP Solutions is another company that provides the same service. They offer a 63-month term, with the first three months free due to transition. Their charge is $30.65 a month for 60 months. They allow us to upload funds in any amount to their portal and there is no congestion or waiting, unlike Pitney Bowes. We have to pay for ink cartridges with FP Solutions. In 2026, the Town did not send out a newsletter which would have cost us $700- $800. We should keep it in the budget in case we do it in 2027. Election Administration Training is at $2000. Dog tags remain the same at $800, $500 for the luncheon. The Administrator asked for $500 for Employee Recognition. The left-over Williams Bay Beach Tags were just sent back. We will be getting a refund of over $6100. In 2027 there will, at most, be two elections. Therefore, there will be a decrease across the election budget. The actual postage expense she left the same. The Board was fine with switching postage meter companies. They would like her to wait until March to make the switch so that the Town does not lose the free three months. Just upload small amounts of money towards the end. Courts – David spoke with the data base program Tipps, about the potential of it not being the full year. They are open to working with us half year or quarter year is fine with them what ever we need they will work with us. David received a quote for $5926 for a full year. It is about how we want to transition and how long we want to have access to this. Chairman Weiss asked David to speak with the Police Department and our Prosecutor to see if it is something that 3 they will need going forward. David said that we will need a Prosecutor on retainer. We will also be losing income from fines. This year that totals $38699, last year it was $42,746. Parks - Supervisor Leith bid out the silo sealing that came in at $6280. The Capital Outlay has $5630. She said she has to account for the extra $650 in the budget. David will change this. Going back, Kathy found a bookkeeping error in the Parks Supplemental $9000. Pat’s Service was far behind on their billing due to new leadership. Therefore, the Town was billed for some of the 2025 service in 2026. The Parks budget will remain the same except the increase cost of $650. Parks Supplemental takes care of the invasive species work that we are contracted to do. $20,000 is for the Town’s easement with Geneva Lakes Conservancy and cutting back all of the invasive growth. Kathy said that the park received new tables from Harbor. Looking forward, Kathy has a ten-year maintenance plan coming out this year. In 2028 they will revaluate the concrete pad. $1000 is put in the kitty for stringers for the bridges. They have to be wood for the weight of the horses. Garbage/Recycling – The John’s bill is going up $20,000 which is less than a 5% increase. Chairman Weiss asked about the fuel rebate. This year we might not receive much of a check. The estimate last month for this rebate was $4400. IT – John Wiesnewski has not been responsive. He is not talking with staff or Board members who need his help. It has now come to our attention that surrounding municipalities are utilizing a different service. David met with this individual, Mr. Fredrick, to discuss his company. There is a summary of that meeting. David was asked to get numbers from both parties to discuss at an upcoming meeting. If Mr. Frederick charges similarly or even less, we should invite him to come in and introduce himself to the board. Mr. Zimmerman had many positive comments regarding his meeting with Mr. Frederick. Chairman Weiss said that we are handcuffed and cannot do basic things like shutting off the email of an employee who left and changing passwords. Wiesnewski won’t allow us to do that. He then needs to be available 24 hours a day. Clerk Morris said that Weisnewski has only billed us once this year. Supervisor Leith mentioned another company named Clear Wave. Buildings and Grounds – Mr. Zimmerman said that utilities all the way around were slightly increased. Phone fees increased. A list of what they think might need to be addressed includes tuck pointing, kitchen hood for fire house, and the rerouting of the exhaust. There will be a new microwave for the counter, since the microwave above the stove will need to be removed. The exhaust system update is not allowed to be paid for with 2% funds. Chief Peters had called the state about that. Chairman Weiss said that it is a capital expense and can be put in the borrowing. An asphalt apron for the fire house has been put on next year’s Capital Plan. Supervisor Leith said that there was an estimated cost of $19,000 on this project from Payne and Dolan. This is quite different from Caplan’s estimate of $8000. David said that a while back Matt asked them for the estimate. Therefore, the proposed budget looks like $10,000 for Town Hall, $136,000 for fire house. ……………………………………… 4 Chairman Weiss said that they still need to deal with Fire / EMS, Police, Harbor and IT update. He wants a full budget for the next meeting. If David doesn’t have numbers from any particular group, then he should put last year’s numbers in. Leith / M. Zimmerman motioned to adjourn at 3:25 PM. Motion Carried. Respectfully submitted, Alyson Morris Town of Linn Clerk